The present invention relates to an improved motionless mixing device, and more particularly to a mixing device suitable for blending and mixing a plurality of components of fluidic materials flowing through a horizontal cylindrical housing.
In known mechanical mixing device for mixing various fluidic materials such as liquid, gas, wet and dry powders, etc., a mixing device having a moving part has generally been used, which device blends fluidic materials within a mixing tank dynamically.
In order to eliminate disadvantages of such a conventional device, a motionless mixing device has been designed and developed by this applicant, which device is capable of blending and mixing of fluidic materials flowing through a cylindrical housing. It has been disclosed in Japan as a co-pending application of laying-open no. 54959/74. In this conventional mixing device, it is possible to provide highly efficient mixing operation of fluidic materials. This device has been suited for use in many different industries as a compact and economic one. In recent years the mixing device of this type is employed in a wider range such as chemical plant facilities or treatment process of industrial waste fluid.
The foregoing conventional motionless mixing device is more efficient in many applications. However, the mixing device includes a plurality of mixing elements enclosed in a hollow cylindrical housing which elements comprise a central rod member longitudinally extending in the direction of central axis of the cylindrical housing and a plurality of radial members radially extending around the central rod member. For this reason, there have been disadvantages to easily yield the trapping action of sludge at mixing elements in the vicinity of the central axis of the cylindrical housing and to thereby rapidly fall the flowing rate of fluidic materials during the mixing operation. It has at least been experimentally proved that the trapping action of sludge thereon is caused by the following factors where there are provided small spaces between respective mixing elements in the vicinity of the central axis of the cylindrical housing, whereby a solid in the fluidic materials flowing through the housing being trapped by the small spaces. It is evident that the flowing rate of fluidic materials is rapidly decreased by the solid in the fluidic materials during the short period, since when the motionless mixing device is used for treatment of a sludge stream, the stream includes various solid materials especially waste threads therein.
The present invention has been devised to eliminate the above conventional disadvantages.
Accordingly a principal object of the invention is to provide a new and improved motionless mixing device.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved motionless mixing device capable of providing efficient mixing action of fluidic materials so as not to yield trapping action of sludge at mixing elements in the cylindrical housing.
To this end, the mixing device according to the present invention includes a plurality of mixing elements fixedly disposed in the inner wall surface of the cylindrical housing, which elements being characterized in that since it does not include the necessity of a central rod member the flow rate of fluidic materials is not decreased by a solid of fluidic stream, a trapping action of sludge at mixing elements being not caused.
The performance characteristics in accordance with the present invention will be apparent from the fact that a plurality of mixing elements include the end surface thereof angularly disposed in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical housing, there being provided with a space between the other end thereof and the adjacent inner wall of the cylindrical housing.
The invention will now be further described by detailed reference to specific embodiments which are illustrated in the drawings.